| Show I 1 BASEBALL GOSSIP strange how the number 13 1 Is avoided now comes the american league through ban johnson prest dent and says the season will open april 14 instead of the day before be cause of the hoodoo think of buaer station controlling such an important thing as the opening of the baseball season the chicago white sox are to begin playing on their new diamond july I 1 charles comiskey has let the contract for the work of the stands and when all is completed he will have one of the finest baseball plants in the country it Is estimated that the coat it will be which Is some out lay hughey duffy who will manage the sox this year says he expects his boys to finish well up in the race and it possible to land the pennant duffy la Is a popular man in baseball and there never was a more popular man in baseball and there never was a more popular man connected with the game than comiskey the old roman back in the days of the famous st louis browns Co mickey as anex A celled as a player he was the idol of thousands then and he never lost any of hi his friends but increased them after he became a club owner no man treats hie his players with more con Bider atlon than comiskey he ile knows baseball and baseball players in se electing duffy as manager he named one of the best of the old guard and A with tha the material at hand one need not be expected to see hughey put the sox in the front row at the be ginning of the race and keep them there having none of the cares of a manager on his shoulders billy sul uran livan the great catcher is expected to show his old form again this year and it if he does it will mean mote more strength to the sox puffy Is part owner of the provi dence team in the kastern eastern league as well as manager of the team he ile is th man who engineered the deal for shortstop blackburn for whom comis kev paid fla 12 blackburn was considered the greatest infielder lelder in minor leagues last year duffy broke into the game in new england when anson was winning championships in chicago and comis key was making himself famous in st louis anse heard of dutty duffy and signed him tor for his own team in 1887 in 1890 he joined the chicago brother hood team under comiskey and should be at home at the new park with the breakup of the brother hood duffy joined the champion bos ton american association team and when the consolidation came the fol lowing year he became a member ot of the boston nationals of which team he was vas made captain in 1896 he left boston become to manager of the mil ee team in the american league A hugh duffy and later became manager of the phil adelphia adelph la nationals where he re bained until the close of 1906 when he went to providence E T colvin ol 01 detroit who caught christy mathewson when matty was pitching for the bucknell nuck nell college team tells an interesting story of the early trials of 0 bix six to secure con arol of the ball mr air colvin says mathewson s perfect control Is I 1 belle believe bellee e due to the novel and original way he used to perfect his delivery dell deli vely vety it was while he was still a boy and had discovered that he had the ma king of a great pitcher he ile built a sort of a shed in his father s back yard inside of which on one end he painted a bullseye bull s eye the size of a catchers catcher s glove he ile would go inside the shed and lambart that bull bulls s eye from daylight until dark when he had no money to buy balls for his in door practice he used cobblestones and in the winter months when he lin was unable to obtain either cobble stones or baseballs he used snow balls cy young the grand old man ot of baseball expects to have just as sue a season this year as he did last cy Is now 44 years old and his arm he says seems as sound as ever really I 1 am beginning to wonder it myself said cy in st louis the other day he stopped off en route to texas I 1 see so many pi fading away avay while my old whip still keeps in working order that its hard to understand I 1 guess its it s because I 1 live outdoors all the winter as well is the summer tim most alost of this winter I 1 have spent in hanting and I 1 am hard as nails right non no without any training I 1 1 |
